Two Position Hand Truck

ABSTRACT

A hand truck with main wheels and a toe plate also includes a handle assembly that is mounted to the frame of the hand truck so that the handle assembly is able to rotate and slide relative to the truck frame. The hand truck may be arranged in a first upright dolly position in which the handle assembly is generally aligned with the truck frame and a second cart position in which the truck frame is generally horizontal and the handle assembly is extended and rotated so that it is upright and normal relative to the truck frame. A latch assembly mounted to the truck frame is able to releasably receive and secure the handle assembly in the first upright dolly position.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/812,336 filed on 6 Apr. 2020, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

U.S. application Ser. No. 16/812,336 claimed the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/815,779 filed on 8 Mar. 2019,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

The subject matter of this application is not related to or has resultedfrom any federally sponsored research or development.

FIELD

This application relates to a hand truck that is able to be used in twopositions.

BACKGROUND

Prior art hand trucks are known that are able to be used in more thanone position. Hand trucks are often used upright configuration in whichthe hand truck is supported by its main wheels and pushed about by meansof a handle that is generally parallel to the hand truck frame or anextension of the hand truck frame. Some hand trucks have arepositionable handle that may be mounted either parallel to the handtruck frame or at a right angle to the hand truck frame, opposite fromthe main wheels. Such hand trucks also have a second set of wheels thatare spaced away from the main wheels so that the hand truck may be usedas a four-wheeled cart. Other hand trucks have handle assemblies thatalso carry caster wheels at their lower ends to provide the second setof wheels. It is desirable to have a hand truck that is able to bequickly transformed between the above described upright dolly mode andthe horizontal cart mode. Accordingly, a need exists for a hand truckthat is able to be quickly transformed between an upright dolly mode anda horizontal cart mode.

SUMMARY

The above described need is addressed by a hand truck that includes atruck assembly and a handle assembly. The truck assembly includes aframe that has a proximate end and a distal end. A toe plate is mountedto the proximate end of the truck frame. A pair of main wheels are alsomounted to the truck frame adjacent to the proximate end of the truckframe.

The handle assembly includes a handle member that presents a handleportion at one end and a handle wheel assembly at the opposite end. Thehandle wheel assembly includes a transverse member and caster wheels.The caster wheels are preferably mounted at opposite ends of thetransverse member. The handle member is mounted to the truck frame insuch a fashion that it can rotate and slide relative to the truck framebetween a first dolly position in which the handle member is retractedand generally aligned with the truck frame and a second cart position inwhich the handle member is extended and generally normal to the truckframe. When the handle assembly is in the second hand cart position, thehand truck is supported by its main wheels and the caster wheels of thehandle wheel assembly so that the hand truck may be used as a hand cart.

A latch assembly is also mounted to the frame of the truck assembly. Thelatch assembly presents a latch bracket that is biased to move in abiased direction and that is able to be manually moved against thebiased direction. The latch bracket is shaped to receive and capture thetransverse member of the handle wheel assembly when the handle assemblyis slid and rotated to the first upright dolly position thereby securingthe handle assembly in the first, upright dolly position. The latchbracket is also shaped to release the transverse member of the handlewheel assembly when manual pressure is applied to the latch bracket tocause the latch bracket to move opposite the biased direction. When thetransverse member of the handle wheel assembly is released, the handleassembly is able to rotate and slide into the second hand cart position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of a two position hand truckshown in a first dolly position.

FIG. 2 is a side view of one embodiment of the two position hand truckshown in a second cart position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the two position handtruck.

FIG. 4 is a close up perspective view showing detail A indicated in FIG.3 .

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a latch assembly and its support membershown isolated from the truck frame of the two position hand truck.

FIG. 5B is an exploded perspective view of the latch assembly and itssupport member shown in FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6A is a front view of one embodiment of a two position hand truckshowing the two position hand truck in a first dolly position.

FIG. 6B is a cross section view of the two position hand truck shown inFIG. 6A taken from plane 6B indicated in FIG. 6A.

FIG. 6C is a magnified view of detail C indicated in FIG. 6B thatprovides a close-up view of the truck frame latch assembly shownengaging the transverse member of the wheel assembly of the handleassembly.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a head and slide tube assembly thatprovides the pivoting and sliding connection between the truck frame andthe handle assembly.

FIG. 7B is an exploded perspective view of the head and slide tubeassembly shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A is side view of the latch assembly and the handle assemblyshowing the handle assembly approaching the latch assembly.

FIG. 8B is side view of the latch assembly and the handle assemblyshowing the handle assembly in contact with the latch assembly such thatthe leading flange of the transverse member of the wheel assembly isbeing received by the notches presented by the lower edges of the latchbracket side flanges.

FIG. 8C is side view of the latch assembly and the handle assemblyshowing the leading flange of the transverse member of the wheelassembly after it has been received by the notches presented by thelower edges of the latch bracket side flanges with the handle assemblyin a secured position.

FIG. 8D is side view of the latch assembly and the handle assemblyshowing the leading flange of the transverse member of the wheelassembly as it is being ejected from the notches presented by the loweredges of the latch bracket side flanges as manual pressure is beingapplied to the latch bracket against its biased direction.

FIG. 8E is side view of the latch assembly and the handle assemblyshowing the leading flange of the transverse member of the wheelassembly after it has been manually pulled away from the latch bracketthereby making it possible to rotate the handle assembly away from thetruck frame toward a second cart position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a two-positionhand truck 10. As can be seen in FIG. 1 , hand truck 10 includes a truckassembly 20 and a handle assembly 60.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 , truck assembly 20 includes a truckframe 22 that extends between a proximate end 22P and a distal end 22D.In this example, a toe plate 24 is mounted to proximate end 22P of truckframe 22. A main wheel assembly 26 is mounted to truck frame 22 adjacentto its proximate end 22P. Main wheel assembly 26 includes wheels 26Wthat are mounted to a transverse axel 26A that, in turn, is mounted to apair of wheel assembly bracket s 26B that are mounted to the oppositesides of frame 22. A latch assembly 30 is mounted to truck frame 22between proximate end 22P and distal 22D.

Handle assembly 60 includes a handle member 62 that presents a handleportion 62H at one end and a wheel assembly 62W at the opposite end.Wheel assembly 62W includes a transverse member 62WT and caster wheels62WC. Caster wheels 62WC are preferably mounted at opposite ends oftransverse member 62WT. Each caster wheel 62WC is preferably of the typethat is able to rotate about an axis that is generally normal to therotation axis the wheel. As can be best seen in FIG. 4 , in thisexample, transverse member 62WT is configured as a channel that presentstwo opposite upstanding flanges, namely a first flange 62WT1 and asecond flange 62WT2. The channel and its upstanding flanges 62WT1 and62WT2 are engagement features that are employed to secure the twopositions of hand truck 10 as will be described below.

As can be seen in FIGS. 3, 7A and 7B, handle assembly 60 is mounted totruck frame 22 by a frame bracket assembly 110. To facilitate therotation and sliding movement of handle assembly 60, a pair of handleslide collars 72A and 72B are arranged to receive handle side members62S1 and 62S2 respectively of handle assembly 60 in a sliding manner.Slide collars 72A and 72B also present normally projecting pins 72P1 and72P2 respectively. Frame bracket assembly 110 is mounted to truck frame22 and includes two side brackets 112A and 112B and a transverse member114 that is fixed to and that connects between side brackets 112A and112B. Each side bracket 112A and 112B is fixed, preferably by welding,to opposite sides of the upper end of truck frame 22. As can be seen inFIG. 7B, side bracket 112A is welded to truck frame 22 (shown inphantom) by a weld 22W. The same is true (but not shown in FIG. 7B) foropposite side bracket 112B. In this example, each frame bracket 112A and112B presents a collar 112AC and 112BC respectively which is fixed,preferably also by welding, to each respective frame bracket 112A an112B. Collars 112AC and 112BC are arranged to receive pins 72P1 and 72P2that project from slide collars 72A and 72B thereby mounting handleassembly 60 to truck frame 22 in a rotating fashion. Given that handleassembly 60 is able to slide within above noted slide collars 72A and72B, also thereby mounting handle assembly 60 to truck frame 22 in asliding fashion. Handle assembly is able to be mounted to truck frame 22in a rotating fashion because the distal end of truck frame 22 is formedto have an outside width that is sufficiently less than the inside widthof handle assembly 60 so that the distal end of truck frame 22 fitsbetween the opposite side members 62S1 and 62S2 of handle assembly 60with additional sufficient clearance for the components described above.

In this example, both the rotation of handle assembly 60 and the slidingmovement of handle assembly relative to truck frame 22 is limited withinranges of movement. As can be seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 as well as FIGS.7A and 7B, the downward sliding movement of handle assembly 60 throughslide collars 72A and 72B (shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B) is limited by astop plates 62ST1 and 62ST2 that are welded to handle assembly sidemembers 62S1 and 62S2 as shown in FIG. 3 . As handle assembly 60 isrotated to the second cart position shown in FIG. 2 , the degree ofrotation of handle assembly 60 is limited by scallops 112AF and 112BF inthe return flanges of brackets 112A and 112B respectively (shown inFIGS. 7A and 7B). The limit of rotation in the opposite direction ashandle assembly 60 is rotated toward a first dolly position (if handleassembly 60 is fully retracted against stop plates 62ST1 and 62ST2) isgoverned by transverse member 62WT of wheel assembly 62 being capturedby frame latch assembly 30. The configuration and operation of framelatch assembly 30 and how frame latch assembly 30 is arranged to receiveand capture transverse member 62WT will be described in greater detailbelow.

Hand truck 10 is able to be secured in the second hand cart positionshown in FIG. 2 because frame brackets 112A and 112B and transversewheel member 62WT of handle wheel assembly 62 have correspondingfeatures that receive each other when truck frame 22 and handle assembly60 are arranged as shown in FIG. 2 . As can be seen in FIGS. 7A and 7B,in this example, each frame bracket 112A and 112B presents a projectingtab 112AT and 112BT. In this example, frame brackets 112A and 112B aregenerally symmetrically identical and tabs 112AT and 112BT project in anormal direction away from truck frame 22. In this example, each ofthese tabs is shaped to be received by channel shaped transverse member62WT of wheel assembly 62W when the handle assembly 60 is rotated andslid to the second cart position as shown in FIG. 2 . Tabs 112AT and112BT and corresponding transverse member 62WT of wheel assembly 62Wthat is channel shaped to receive tabs 112AT and 112BT provide just oneexample of how complementary features may be used to accomplishengagement in order to secure hand truck 10 in the second cart positionshown in FIG. 2 .

Truck frame 22 of truck assembly 20 carries a latch assembly 30 that isarranged to capture and release transverse member 62WT of wheel assembly62W. When transverse member 62WT is captured as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4,6A, 6B and 6C, when handle assembly 62 is secured in the first dollyposition shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 6A and 6B. Latch assembly 30 is bestunderstood by referring to FIGS. 4, 5A, 5B and 6C as well as FIGS.8A-8E.

As can be seen in FIGS. 5A and 5B, latch assembly 30 includes a latchassembly support member 32, a pair of opposite latch bracket supportmembers 34A and 34B and a latch bracket 36. As is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, latch assembly support member 32 is fixed to truck frame 22,preferably by weldments, and extends between truck frame side members22A and 22B. Latch bracket support members 34A and 34B are generallyflat plates and are fixed to latch assembly support member 32 in aspaced apart and generally parallel manner as shown in FIG. 5A.Weldments are also preferred for fixing latch bracket support member 34Aand 34B to latch assembly support member 32. Latch bracket 36, in thisexample, is a sheet metal flat pattern type part that has been formed tohave two side flanges 36A and 36B and a handle portion 36C extendingbetween side flanges 36A and 36B. In this example, handle portion 36Cpresents a handle tab 36CT and side flanges 36A and 36B each present agenerally normally extending stop tab 36AT and 36BT respectively. Sideflanges 36A and 36B also present bottom edges 36AE and 36BE respectivelythat further present notches 36AN and 36BN respectively.

By referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the skilled reader will understand howlatch bracket 36 is mounted for rotation to latch bracket supportmembers 34A and 34B. As can be seen in FIG. 5B, each latch bracketsupport member 34A and 34B carries a corresponding bolt and collarcombination 34AB. The collars of bolt and collar combinations 34AB areadapted to be received by corresponding holes 36ATH and 36BTH that aredefined in side flanges 36A and 36B respectively of latch bracket 36.The skilled reader will note that latch bracket support members 34A and34B are offset from side flanges 36A and 36B of latch bracket 36respectively when latch assembly 30 is assembled. These offsets providegaps for accommodating a pair of coiled springs 33S1 and 33S2 that arecarried by the collar of bolt and collar combinations 34AB. Springs 33S1and 33S2 communicate between bracket support members 34A and 34B andlatch bracket 36 to bias latch bracket 36 in direction A(counter-clockwise) as indicated in FIG. 5A such that bottom edges 36AEand 36BE and notches 36AN and 36BN are rotated away from truck frame 22.This biased direction A (indicated in FIG. 5A) may also be understood ascounter-clockwise in FIGS. 6C and 8A-8E. The skilled reader will alsonote when referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B that tabs 36AT and 36BT thatextend outboard from latch bracket 36 are arranged to contact latchbracket support members 34A and 34B to arrest the biased rotation oflatch bracket 36 in a predetermined position as shown in FIGS. 5A, 6Cand 8A-8C. The skilled reader will further note that bracket supportmembers 34A and 34B present optional downwardly extending tabs 34AT and34BT that are located to stop flange 62WT1 of transverse member 62WT tothereby limit the rotation of handle assembly 60.

It now remains to consider how latch assembly 30 is operated in order toreceive, secure and release handle assembly 60. By referring to FIG. 5B,the skilled reader will be able to note that side flanges 36A and 36B oflatch bracket 36 symmetrically present curved bottom edges 36AE and 36BErespectively. And, the skilled reader may also again observe that bottomedges 36AE and 36BE present notches 36AN and 36BN respectively.

The way latch assembly 30 is able to receive and secure transversemember 62WT of handle assembly 60 may be best understood by referring toFIGS. 8A-8C. FIG. 8A is taken from the same plane as is FIG. 6C. In FIG.8A (as is the case for FIGS. 8B-8E), handle assembly 60 has been slid tothe first dolly position such that slide collars 72A and 72B of framebracket assembly 110 have contacted stops 62ST1 and 62ST1 that are fixedto side handle members 62S1 and 62S2 of handle assembly 60. This placesthe upper edge of flange 62WT1 of transverse member 62WT at the correctrelative elevation for being received by latch assembly 30. Also, inFIG. 8A, latch bracket 36 is biased counterclockwise such that tabs 36ATand 36BT are in contact with the top surfaces of latch support members34A and 34B respectively. In FIG. 8B, an operator has pushed handleassembly 60 until the leading flange 62WT1 of member 62WT at the lowerend of handle assembly 60 has begun to make initial contact with lowercurved edges 36AE and 36BE of latch bracket 36. As this contactcontinues, latch bracket 36 is rotated against its bias in a clockwisedirection to a position that is very similar if not identical to thatshown in FIG. 8D. At this point, notches 36AN and 36BN at the lower endof latch bracket 36 receive flange 62WT1 of transverse member 62WT. Ascan be seen in FIG. 8C, once notches 36AN and 36BN receive flange 62WT1,latch bracket 36 will, because of its spring bias, return to theposition shown in FIG. 6C and as shown in FIG. 8C. Latch assembly 30 hasreceived and has secured handle assembly 60 in the first dolly positionshown in FIG. 1 . Manual manipulation of latch assembly 30 and handleassembly 60 will be required to release handle assembly 60 to move it toa position other than the first dolly position shown in FIG. 1 .

The way latch assembly 30 and handle assembly 60 may be manipulated torelease transverse member 62WT of handle assembly 60 from latch assembly30 may be best understood by referring to FIGS. 8C-8E. In FIG. 8C handleassembly 60 has been received and secured as described above. In FIG.8D, tab 36CT has been depressed with a force P to cause clockwiserotation of latch assembly 30 against the above noted spring bias. Ascan be seen in FIG. 8D, this action rotates notches 36AN and 36BN up andaway from leading flange 62WT1 of transverse member 62WT of handleassembly 60 thereby disengaging bracket assembly 30 from handle assembly60. Flange 62WT1 is no longer captured by notches 36AN and 36BN. Then,the operator, by pulling on handle assembly 60 and rotating handleassembly 60 in a counter-clockwise direction toward a position as shownin FIG. 8E is able to rotate transverse member 62WT away from latchassembly 30, thereby disengaging handle assembly 60 from latch assembly30. Once handle assembly 60 is in the position shown in FIG. 8E, force Pmay be released to allow latch bracket assembly 30 to return to theposition shown in FIGS. 6C and 8A. Once handle assembly 60 is translatedaway from latch bracket assembly 30, it is possible to change therelative positions of truck frame 22 and handle assembly 60 from thefirst dolly position shown in FIG. 1 to the second cart position shownin FIG. 2 .

As can be seen from the above description, hand truck 10 meets the needsnoted above by providing a hand truck that can be rapidly reconfiguredin a first dolly configuration and a second cart configuration. Whilecertain options were disclosed above for accomplishing a rotating andsliding connection between a truck frame and a handle assembly and whilecertain features were presented as examples for providing ways forvarious components to engage and release, the skilled reader shouldunderstand that various corresponding features may be selected forsecure engagement and release between various assemblies and parts.

The applicant has also found that steel tubing and steel plate andsimilar materials are suitable for the structural components of a handtruck such as hand truck 10 and that welding is a preferred process forfixing together parts within assemblies for such a hand truck. However,those who are skilled in the art may find other materials and processes.

It is to be understood that while certain forms of this invention havebeen illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto, except in sofar as such limitations are included in the following claims andallowable equivalents thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:
 1. A hand truck, comprising: a handtruck frame having side members and a handle assembly that is at leastrotatably mounted to the truck frame such that the handle assembly isable to rotate between a first position in which the handle assembly isadjacent to the truck frame and a second position in which the handleassembly is rotated away from being adjacent to the truck frame, a latchassembly that is mounted to the truck frame which is arranged toreleasably receive and releasably secure the handle assembly in thefirst position, the latch assembly including a latch assembly supportmember that is fixed to the truck frame, a pair of opposite latchbracket support members and a latch bracket, the latch assembly supportmember being fixed to and extending between the truck frame sidemembers, the latch bracket support members being generally flat platesthat are fixed to latch assembly support member in a spaced apartparallel manner and having top edges, the latch bracket having at leastone side flang and a handle portion extending from the at least one sideflange, the at least one side flange also having a top edge which has anormally extending stop tab, the at least one side flange alsopresenting a curved bottom edge that presents a notch, the latch bracketbeing rotatably mounted to the latch bracket support members and biasedto rotate in a direction such that the top of the latch bracket rotatestoward the truck frame, the rotation of the latch bracket being arrestedas the normally extending stop tab of the latch bracket side flangecontacts the top edge of at least one of the latch bracket supportmembers, the handle assembly further including at least one horizontaltransverse cross member that presents at least one upwardly extendingedge, such that the extending edge is able to be swung toward the truckframe, the upwardly extending edge of the horizontal cross member of thehandle assembly being arranged such that the upwardly extending edge isable to contact the curved bottom edge of the at least one side flangeof the latch bracket until the upwardly extending edge is received bythe notch in the bottom edge of the latch bracket side member therebyretaining the handle assembly in a position that is proximate to thetruck frame, the handle assembly also being arranged such that manualpressure against its bias rotates the notch so that the notch disengagethe upwardly extending edge of the horizontal cross member of the handleassembly so that the subsequent manual rotation of the handle assemblyaway from the frame allows the released handle assembly to rotate awayfrom the truck frame.
 2. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein; the handleassembly is able to rotate relative to the frame about a fixed axis. 3.The hand truck of claim 1, wherein; the latch bracket is able to rotaterelative to the frame about a fixed axis.
 4. The hand truck of claim 1,wherein; the handle assembly is able to rotate relative to the frameabout a fixed axis, and the latch bracket is able to rotate relative tothe frame about a fixed axis.
 5. The hand truck of claim 1, wherein; thehandle assembly is able to slide relative to the frame.